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VI. RESPONSIBLE CONDUCT OF RESEARCH (RCR)
Postdoctoral scholars should receive training in responsible conduct of research so as to improve their ability to make ethical and legal choices. This training should provide them with an appreciation for the range of accepted research practices; familiarize them with the relevant regulations, policies, statutes, and guidelines governing the conduct of their research; and make them aware of the resources to which they can turn when ethical questions and concerns arise.
Postdoctoral scholars would be expected to4:
- Improve their ability to make ethical and legal choices.
- Develop appreciation for the range of accepted practices for conducting research.
- Be familiar with the regulations, policies, statutes, and guidelines that govern the
conduct of government-funded research, as appropriate.
- Be aware of the available tools and resources to which they can turn when ethical
questions and concerns arise (see comment under "research misconduct" bullet).
4 Adapted from the objectives of the Policy on Instruction in the Responsible Conduct
of Research, Office of Research Integrity (ORI), 2000.
Delineation of Specific Skills
- Data ownership and sharing
- Sharing of data with collaborators, including industry-specific concerns as appropriate
- Ownership and access to data, particularly once a postdoc's appointment ends
- Understanding and respect for intellectual property rights, patents, and copyrights
- Understanding criteria for authorship and the elements of responsible publicationf
- Research with human subjects (where applicable)
- Ethical principles for conducting human subjects research, including informed consent and subject confidentiality
- Federal, state, and local regulations/guidelines for conducting human subjects research
- Institutional Review Board (IRB) processes and procedures
- Requirements for reporting clinical trials
- Research involving animals (where applicable)
- Ethical principles for conducting research with animals
- Federal, state, and local regulations/guidelines for use of animals in research
- Understanding the Three Rs: Replace, reduce and refine animal use in research
- Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) processes and procedures
- Identifying and mitigating research misconduct
- Applicable definitions of misconduct (federal, ORI/PHS, NASA, NEH, NSF, etc.)
- Reporting procedures
- The role and risks of being a whistleblower.
- Conflicts of interest
- Personal and intellectual conflicts
- Conflicts of commitment
- Financial conflicts
- Confidentiality and bias in peer review
- Conflicts and potential competition between mentor and trainee.
Resources
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